As many may have heard last week, thanks to the generosity of many parishioners, we were able to purchase the new ciboria, sacred vessels, which contain the hosts at Mass! Thank you again to all who contributed.
A few weeks ago, I wrote the article asking for donations and explained what ciboria are; this reminded me of one of my favorite courses I took at St. John’s, as I was working towards a Master's in Liturgy: Sacraments of Initiation and Eucharist.
In this course, I read stacks and stacks of fantastic books, but one that I will never forget was Age to Age by Edward Foley. This book takes you century by century through the liturgical life of the church; it is both scholarly and approachable, truly painting a picture of Christian worship throughout each age.
One of the elements of the spiritual practices discussed for each time period is the liturgical vessels, such as ciboria. The book not only describes the vessels and how they may have been used but also features pictures of artifacts discovered in archeological digs, now housed in museums, or vessels preserved with love in the church for centuries.
As we have just celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, perhaps reflecting on the liturgical vessels that hold Christ’s body will be enriching for you, as it has been for me.
In the first century of Christianity, no known vessels have been preserved for worship. This is, at least in part, because the vessels that were used at the time were likely indistinguishable from the finest servingwear- plates or baskets for bread, and cups (usually stemmed, like a chalice). There is no evidence that the Eucharist would have been reserved, as the Body of Christ often is now; rather, it would have been broken and consumed by those present, gathered in relatively small numbers.
While reserving the Eucharist is a reverent practice and enables the Eucharist to be shared with those who are unable to attend Mass (we’ll discuss that in a little bit), reflecting on the lack of reservation at this time can remind us of an important and beautiful truth: the primary vessels of Christ in this world are those who receive him. We are the dwelling place of Christ himself; he lives in us. (Ephesians 2:22, 1 Corinthians 3:16).
From 100-300 AD, the question of material for sacred vessels is raised; documents indicate that some Bishops made requests for vessels to be made of precious metals, and there is archeological evidence that carved bone and glass may also have been used. One of the most interesting developments is the pyx (which means “box” in Greek). As early as the first century, there are records of Deacons being sent to those in the community who were unable to attend the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist to bring them Holy Communion in these pyxes. Both because of the desire to bring communion to those who were unable to gather and because of growing numbers, it became necessary to reserve the Eucharist as well. The Eucharist would have been reserved in a pyx as well and stored in a cabinet set aside for this purpose.
We use pyxes to this day to bring communion to those who are unable to attend Mass. The pyxes of the 2nd and 3rd centuries would have varied in size, but many would have been much larger than the ones we typically use today that can only hold 2- 5 hosts. And we now use ciboria to hold the reserved Blessed Sacrament. Nonetheless, the practice of bringing communion to those in the community shows us how central the Eucharist (the true Body of Christ) was to those early Christians, and how essential it remains to us today. Additionally, that moment of connection with the Christian community (the Mystical Body of Christ) is represented in the moment when the Eucharist is brought to someone.
In the 4th century, Emperor Constantine had a conversion experience and became a follower of Christ. He legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire, and this stability allowed for more formal and grand churches to be built. One of the defining features of these churches was the addition of a Tabernacle. Tabernacle means “tent,” a reference to the tent and dwelling place of God in the Old Testament (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers). Like now, the tabernacle was a permanent container meant for reserving the Body of Christ in the form of consecrated bread. At the time, tabernacles were a variety of shapes and sizes; some smaller tabernacles contained the blessed sacrament without another vessel, and larger tabernacles likely held a pyx, which would have contained the blessed sacrament.
During the 4th century, patents (plates), chalices (stemmed cups), pyxes, and tabernacles were most commonly made of precious metals, and there is extensive evidence of this practice being regulated by Bishops in the church. This transition also marks a theological development, in which Christians began to see the vessels themselves as sacred because of what they contain, much like we ourselves are made holy through reception of the Eucharist.
Concerning vessels, the next major development comes shortly after the dawn of the second millennium. A pyx becomes a small vessel used to contain the Eucharist outside of Mass, while a ciborium (plural, ciboria) becomes the “Mass pyx.” At the time, these came to be stemmed, like a chalice, perhaps to make it easier to distribute the Body of Christ to the faithful. To this day, ciboria may or may not have stems.
Later in the Middle Ages, around 1400, is the first recorded use of a Monstrance. A monstrance is a distinctive vessel with a stem and a window surrounded by intricate metalwork for displaying a consecrated host. This was for the faithful to look upon and pray before the blessed Sacrament, and was used for Eucharistic Processions, similar to the one at OLP last Sunday.
From the Middle Ages on, much has remained the same. While the 1970’s brought an allowance for Eucharistic Vessels- specifically the patents (plates), chalices, and wine pitchers to be made from earthenware, glass, and clay, the Holy See “reprobated” them in 2004 as those materials are easily breakable and therefore made it more likely that the Eucharist would be dropped, spilled, etc.
While there has been substantial development of the vessels that have held the Eucharist from age to age to help the faith to honor the Blessed Sacrament, so much has remained the same from the Last Supper, during which Christ himself instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist; the bread and wine may have been slightly different, the plate and chalice made from different materials, but in the Sacrament over the centuries we have received Christ himself, as his intended sacred vessels.
Elizabeth Pike
Director of Music and Liturgy
